The challenge of unity wall plug efficiency: The effects of internal heating on the efficiency of light emitting diodes

We develop a self-consistent model to describe the internal heating of high power light emitting diodes (LEDs) and use this model to simulate the operation of GaAs–AlGaAs double heterostructure LEDs. We account for the heating by nonradiative recombination processes in the simulations and solve self-consistently the steady state junction temperature. Based on the simulation results, we discuss the plausibility of unity conversion efficiency in LEDs and also the mechanisms underlying the efficiency droop. We show that the rise in the junction temperature limits the light output available from LEDs and further degrades the efficiency of operation at high operating currents. In addition to high power applications we study the optimal operating point and discuss the methods to increase the efficiency of LEDs toward the thermodynamical limits.